Association between perceived stress and Executive Functions among Egyptian elderly

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Geriatrics Medicine and Gerontology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University.

2 Community Medicine Departement, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University.

Abstract

Background: Perceived stress is considered a significant indicator of mental and physical health and there is a strong relationship between psychological stress and cognitive impairment at the level of all cognitive domains up to progression to dementia. Objective: To assess the relationship between perceived stress and executive functions in a sample of Egyptian older adults.
Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 110 elderly attending outpatient clinics, inpatient wards at Ain Shams University hospitals and community dwellers. Demographic data of the participants were collected. Screening for general cognition was done first using Addenbrooke’s cognitive Examination Ш (ACE Ш) with the exclusion of dementia patients scoring 83 or less, exclusion of depressed participants scoring 3 or more in PHQ-2 that was followed by assessment of stress via perceived stress scale-10 (PSS-10) and assessment of executive functions by using trail making test (TMT).
Results: Screening of general cognitive functions was done firstly by using (ACE Ш), further assessment of executive functions by TMT and perceived stress by PSS-10 revealed that most of the studied sample (52.7%) have moderate levels of perceived stress and (38.2%) of them have mild perceived stress. There was a statistically significant difference between perceived stress level and executive function affection (P value 0.01).
Conclusion: Perceived stress is significantly associated with executive dysfunction. A relationship is present between Perceived stress and executive function impairment.

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